It’s hard to believe summer is approaching as we never had a spring! It’s currently 57 degrees at 8am, which is not too bad. Still chilly, but not the 37 degree mornings we had when we were last here in Port Townsend.
We’re in Port Townsend, anchored off of downtown waiting on our weather window to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Our sublease at Shilshole was ending today, but we left a few days early to cheer on my brother as he paddled in the grueling Seventy48 man-powered race from Tacoma to Port Townsend. Leaving after Shane got off work, we did only about an hour and a half of motor sailing to Kingston where we anchored for the night. There was no wind and lots of rain.
At Kingston we used our new anchor setup. This was our first time anchoring again after suffering a mishap of our own making back at Blake Island. We were a little nervous. Thankfully the anchor held right away and Shane’s splicing work proved to be solid.
Anchoring in Kingston is fun, but rolly with the ferry being right there. We have done it once before and were prepared. The rain let up in the morning and Shane pulled anchor on his own. As we were leaving we caught up to my brother who was just crossing the ferry. Pretty perfect timing! He was exhausted, but in good spirits, loving the conditions and views. I was impressed; he’s a Californian through and through, but the chill and rain hadn’t dampened his spirits.
From Kingston we motored the rest of the way to Port Townsend, flying through Admiralty Inlet, riding the current. Crossing over Port Townsend Bay brought a tidal rip with large rolly waves we surfed into port.
I was able to get us a slip at Boat Haven. Not only we’re we there for the races, but Shane was picking up his new dinghy. I’ll have to have him share more in that later. It’s pretty incredible. The slip helped us load the dinghy on the deck for the first time in the wind.
Saturday and Sunday was filled with cousin time. The boys loved having them onboard. I’m hoping we’ll have more kids come visit them this summer, or meet up in the different anchorages. The kids are stocked with water toys now to keep them busy (assuming this weather ever warms up). We’re betting on water activities as an icebreaker for meeting other cruising kids. Wish us luck.
Monday morning we moved the boat to the anchorage we’re still at today, Tuesday morning. We pumped out first at 6:30am and anchored with no problem. We were trying to get out of the marina before the tide fell to a -3 in their 12 ft controlled marina. The wind kicked up again shortly after. Thankfully we have some protection with the cliff near us. However it was still pretty bouncy on the water!
I was behind on my homeschool reporting and had to catch-up most of the day. We found out quickly what a power hog our laptops are. I was still able to have two Zoom calls for end of year conferences with their teachers! No call drops and we even used video.
In between conferences Kelly did his workout. He’s been doing the same set of exercises for a few days now. His own research and accountability. I was able to do about 20 minutes of barre in my galley too.
Spanish boot camp started yesterday. The kids did a Pimsleur lesson and some Duolingo. I need to find out more about the family plan for Duolingo. The kids like it, but quickly run out of hearts so each day of practice ends up being about ten minutes. I assume that will improve over time. We went over counting to ten in Spanish. At lunch the kids watched an episode of The Simpsons in Spanish too thanks to DisneyPlus.
For dinner I made clam chowder. As I made dinner Shane read the juvenile version of The Boys in the Boat. After dinner the boys and Shane played darts, following the rules of course, with Wyatt’s new magnetic dart board. Wyatt was able to practice adding two digit numbers to track the scores. I continued to work on my homeschool reporting.
Let’s all start doing a weather dance to bring the good stuff to us soon, eh? I have hope.